


Coffee's on the House

by littledust



Category: In the Heights - Miranda
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-30
Updated: 2014-11-30
Packaged: 2018-02-27 13:50:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2695340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littledust/pseuds/littledust
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>10 excuses Usnavi used to give Vanessa free coffee, from pre-canon to post-canon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coffee's on the House

**Author's Note:**

> Much love and gratitude to my fic cheerleaders! I love Usnavi/Vanessa and couldn't resist the opportunity to write some shameless shipfic.

**1\. Because she's the lucky 100th customer.**

Vanessa waits until after Usnavi hands her the coffee to say, "I'm pretty sure more than a hundred customers have been in here."

Usnavi looks down and mumbles something. It's not even _words_ , Mary Mother of God. At least Sonny isn't here to witness this. It's sad when your seven-year-old cousin has more game than you. But Vanessa said _how much_ when he slid her a Styrofoam cup next to the bottle of ginger ale, the ibuprofen, and the tube of mascara. She only got one thing for herself, and it took her five minutes of standing in front of the tiny makeup corner to pull it off the shelf.

_You're the lucky 100th customer!_ he said, his heart doing a funny, sad little thump in his chest. Vanessa is made to make pulses race, not make other, far less cool people feel sorry for her. _The coffee is on the house._

(He thinks that sounded cool. Independent businessman gives a pretty girl a little free merchandise. Independent businessman who is barely old enough to work, right.)

"So I might not be one hundred, but I'm still lucky!" Vanessa says, scooping up her plastic bag of makeup and anti-hangover gear. She blows Usnavi a kiss on her way out.

Sonny isn't here to make fun of him, so he pretends to catch it.

**2\. Because it's cold outside.**

"Ugh," Vanessa says, laying her head on the table. "One semester to _go_. Everybody say a prayer for a snow day tomorrow. Or I'm calling out with senioritis. No way, no more work."

"Can _she_ be my role model?" Sonny asks. "Because I'm feelin' the whole anti-schoolwork vibe here."

"Nope. I called dibs on being your role model years ago," Nina says. Because Sonny still has a giant crush on her that he won't admit to, he shuts up and goes back to doing his homework on the inch of counter space between the cash register and all of Vanessa's hair.

"Um," Usnavi says. He should say something. Even something about the weather. It's not lame, it's _relevant_. But all he can think is, _Hair. So much hair._

"Get off the counter. Give a guy some space!"

"Fine." Vanessa flicks her glorious hair over her shoulder, then looks at the hissing sleet outside. "I stop in here hoping for a little bit of sympathy, a little bit of shelter from the storm, and you nerds want to cast me out! I see how it is."

"Mm-hmm." Nina unwraps a granola bar and bites into it with a grin. "If a girl paints her toenails in the middle of a snowstorm, does anybody care?"

Usnavi's brain comes online enough to carry him through the familiar motions of making a cup of coffee. "For the road," he says. "Free. It's cold outside."

Three sentences this time. Only one of them complete, but hey, this ain't English class.

"You are so _dumb_ ," Sonny says after Vanessa leaves. Nina keeps eating her granola bar, but she nods.

**3\. Because it's ladies' night all day.**

"You been to a lot of clubs lately?" Vanessa asks, but those perfect lips are smiling like Usnavi is in on the joke. He dusts her café con leche with cinnamon and hands it over, ignoring Sonny's muffled laughter from the magazines section. Kid shouldn't even be looking at half those articles anyway.

"Sonny, are you sure you're old enough to be reading those?" Usnavi asks, in a pitch perfect imitation of Abuela Claudia. Sonny jumps about a hundred feet in the air and Usnavi turns to Vanessa. He just nailed a joke in front of Vanessa, and--

\--and she isn't smiling.

"Thanks for the coffee," she murmurs, subdued all of a sudden. "Better go check on my mom."

Her lipstick leaves a red crescent on the coffee lip, like half of a heart.

**4\. Because she said the secret code word (coffee).**

"That's a terrible business model," Benny says. Vanessa has gone on her merry way, free coffee in hand, so Usnavi is capable of human thought once again.

"I gotta give her some kind of reason for all the free coffee," he says. "I don't actually give _anybody_ who says 'coffee' a free coffee. Though plenty of people order in Spanish, and there's that one guy who I think is from Haiti, so not everybody would get it for free."

Benny draws one hand down his face, slowly enough to pull his lower eyelids down.

"Is that face supposed to mean something? 'Cause you can take that creepiness a few doors down. Bet Carla and Daniela would get some kicks."

"Just _tell_ her, man," Benny says. "The Vanessa Discount is not a long-term love strategy. Why not just say, oh, here's a free coffee, and can we go out sometime?"

"What _love strategy_ are you talking about? When's the last time you went on a date?"

"I go on a lot of dates," Benny says, and then puts the business section of the paper in between him and Usnavi.

**5\. Because everybody had a rough day.**

He gives free coffee to the whole Rosario family on their way to the airport. They have an early flight. Kevin looks like somebody beat him with a baseball bat, except on the inside, so nothing shows on his face except for the pain. Camila says, "That poor man." Then, under her breath, she adds, "Bastard got what was coming to him."

Nina doesn't say much. She's tired and she never met her paternal grandfather. Now she never will.

"I'm sorry," Usnavi says to Kevin. Camila gives him a fierce hug on the way out and tells him to take care of himself. "And I'll take care of Abuela Claudia," Usnavi says.

Vanessa stops in a little while later, on her way to the early shift at the salon. He doesn't offer up many excuses to give her free coffee anymore; she takes her cup automatically now. Today, though, he says, "Because everybody had a rough day."

She checks her phone, frowning. "It's not even eight o'clock in the morning."

"The Rosarios came in before they left." Usnavi pretends to count the change in the cash register for something to do with his hands. A real conversation with Vanessa, and he's too sad to appreciate it. "Sometimes I miss them, you know?"

Vanessa doesn't ask who "them" is, 'cause she knows him well enough to realize he's not talking about the Rosarios anymore. She lays one hand over his and squeezes. Her fingernails are painted deep red, like wine. "Hey. Keep your head up, okay? I'll come by on my break."

Usnavi risks a glance at her, despite the wetness in his eyes. She has this look on her face, so soft, like she wants to--

Nah. No way. Usnavi summons his customary smile. "A visit from Vanessa? My day is turning around..." 

**6\. Because abuela told him to.**

"I should tell her, right? That's what everyone says." Usnavi passes Abuela Claudia a bag of bread. It's factory sealed, so it's probably still okay to sell to customers, but it's been on the shelves for a while and birds gotta eat, too.

Abuela Claudia rests her forearms on the counter, mouth pursed in thought. "Are you ready to tell her?" she asks, and this is why Usnavi loves her. No one else would think to ask that question. Everybody else loves the sound of their own advice more.

"Most of the time when I try to talk to her, I still get all tongue-tied and stupid. I'm too old for this."

Abuela Claudia chuckles. "Plenty of people older than you are shy. Keep talking to her in whatever way makes you comfortable. Give her the free coffee if it makes you happy. Just remember that you will never know until you ask."

Usnavi rubs the back of his neck, then has to pull his hat back in place. "Gracías, abuela."

**7\. Because of her customer loyalty.**

"The whole point of a convenience store is that it's convenient," Vanessa says with a teasing grin. "They open up a bodega on the other side of the salon, and I'm gone."

Sonny takes the excuse to put aside his broom and heaves a tragic sigh. "Usnavi, there is no loyalty. We're just an independent business trying to make it in a corporate world, and she stabs us in the back. I bet she goes to 7-11."

"Most people go to the _convenient_ convenience store," Vanessa fires back. She's no Nina, though, with a hundred statistics on poverty to throw out of her head, and their bickering turns into their ancient Coke vs. Pepsi feud.

"Caffeine's caffeine," Usnavi says weakly. To his surprise, Vanessa laughs.

**8\. Because she has new shoes.**

Daniela gives a wolf whistle when Vanessa walks into the bodega. "New shoes? Damn, you _working_ for that second date!"

"I think it's nice that Usnavi is finally making an effort," Carla says, swatting at Daniela's arm. "Not that you guys's love life is any of our business, but Vanessa, I would get that guy before he flies off somewhere crazy like Wisconsin."

After a beat, Usnavi recovers and says, "Gotta love that Midwest cheese." He thought the salon moving would mean a little less salon girls gossip, but no, Carla and Daniela would never abandon that sacred duty.

"I didn't know your coffee came with so many conditions," Vanessa says, lifting an eyebrow. "I can get coffee from lots of places near my new apartment, you know."

"For free?"

"For no second dates," she replies, running a finger along the rim of her coffee lid.

"So I got no barista rivals is what you're saying."

Daniela crosses herself and begins murmuring an exaggerated prayer, eyes fixed on heaven (or the bodega's ceiling, which is as close to heaven as they can see from inside). "Ay, I cannot help these children, with their silly flirtation games and refusal to say what is in their hearts."

"I'll take you to dinner," says Usnavi. "Last time you brought the champagne."

Vanessa leans across the counter to peck him on the cheek. "Sounds good to me."

**9\. Because she showed him a sweet dance move.**

"And then I was all like _hah_ and she was all like _yeah_ and then we were both like _uh_."

"Not bad, cuz," Sonny says, giving him the universal nod of Damn, A Brotha Can Dance.

Vanessa shakes her head, leaning back against the counter. "I can't believe you still remember that. And without the music! You're getting better."

"My secret is drinking." Usnavi claps Benny on the shoulder. "Hey, isn't Nina back in a couple of weeks? We should all go clubbing together again. No power outages this time."

"Huh?" Benny shakes his head. He's been in an unhappy daze since the plans for Nina's Thanksgiving flight fell through. The airfares were too jacked up for a flight two and a half weeks before the end of the semester. "Uh, yeah. Maybe New Year's. You can finally get that first kiss you've been waiting for."

"Oh, it's a funny guy."

Sonny snickers. "I thought it was pretty funny."

Vanessa takes a sip of her coffee. "I'll kiss you after this. Then we can both have coffee breath."

"Romance," Usnavi sighs over the sound of Sonny's gagging noises.

**10\. "Because I love you."**

Vanessa has the mug raised to her lips before the words register. Her face lights up like a candle, no, like a _hundred_ candles, sent out on the water in little boats. "Say it again."

"Coffee's on me," Usnavi says, still weak-kneed by the sight of Vanessa curled up in her bed, hair sleep-mussed, the rest of her gloriously naked.

"No. The other part."

"Because I love you," he says. The words flow out in a rush, embarrassingly sincere. He spent hours working up the courage in front of a mirror, planned the perfect moment with input from the entire block, and let last night's perfect moment go in a fit of nervousness. And now here he is, blurting it out over a mug of coffee.

She takes an appreciative sip, closing her eyes. "You too," she says, so quiet he can barely hear it.

"What?"

Vanessa clears her throat. "I love you, too. Get over here. They're my sheets; I can spill coffee on them if I want to."

Before Vanessa can destroy her bedding, Usnavi rescues the coffee. And then kisses her, because really, who gives a damn about coffee on a morning like this?


End file.
